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Siddiqui

Fatima Siddiqui

Hashim Kaleem

SS 100

11 November 2022

Should prostitution be legalized?

For decades the debate about prostitution being a respectable and safe occupation has

been persistent. Today, there is an increasing concern for the well-being of those in this

industry. Engagement in sexual services has often been deemed immoral and derogatory.

This mindset of the world surrounding prostitutes has made them a constant target of violence

and assault. Between 45% and 75% of sex workers worldwide experience sexual violence

during work (Sexual Violence Against Sex Workers). At this point, the critical issue at hand

is the safety of these human beings. Is the legalization of prostitution a significant enough

change to guarantee their security? Would laws regulating the prostitution industry through

licensing, registration, and mandatory health checks be sufficient? Or will legalization

encourage this violent attitude instead?

Let us first consider the evidence in favor of the legalization of prostitution.

Our first source is a research paper written by Elaine Mossman, a research fellow with

substantial expertise in evaluating frameworks for the public and private sectors for over 25

years. She has held multiple university positions in the UK and New Zealand. She has a great

deal of experience in the discipline of criminal justice and has worked as a senior research

fellow at Victoria university’s Crime andjJustice research center for the better part of a

decade. For the sake of this paper, we will be focusing on her work in collaboration with the

ministry of justice for the New Zealand government: “International Approaches to

Decriminalising or Legalising Prostitution” .This is a review of legalization and

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decriminalization models of prostitution law reform abroad based on which the prostitution

reform act of 2008 is to be informed.

Mossman distinguishes the difference between the two legislative approaches as

“largely a matter of degree” (Pinto) or, simply put, the severity of regulations in place.

Legalised regimes focus on prostitution-specific controls at all levels. Mossman begins her

review by clarifying the definition of legalization and setting up the parameters of her

research. She explains how prostitution is regulated by the government and is only permitted

under specifically defined circumstances, including registration, licenses, and mandatory

health checks.

Mossman then carries forward her research by reviewing key legislations around the

world. The author uses comprehensive tables to compartmentalize the data, making it easier

to interpret. The table classifies the information into the implemented laws and highlights

which acts are acceptable and prohibited. A brief detail on the outcomes and issues resulting

from implementation is also presented. An example would be the removal of articles 250b

and 432 from the Criminal Code in the Netherlands (Mossman 23), which meant the ban on

brothels and pimping had been abolished. However, with some prohibitions like that of

forced coercion, minors in prostitution, and individuals from outside the European Union. 

Mossman specializes in what she calls “mixed-methodology evaluation research”.

It can be defined as “research in which the investigator collects and analyzes data, integrates

the findings, and draws inferences using both qualitative and quantitative approaches or

methods in a single study or program of inquiry”( Journal of Mixed Methods Research 2018).

Her experience in teaching research methods and statistics at the graduate level makes her

increasingly qualified for the job. Therefore the information presented in this source is

incredibly credible and tough to fault .

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  However, it does not focus much on the effect of the central entity: the prostitutes

themselves. What this source fails to deliver is a point of relatability. The author makes

generalized claims about the issues and outcomes of the reforms in question but fails to

mention any direct accounts from the sex workers. A personalized touch would help give the

audience a deeper understanding of the actual impacts. This, accompanied by the general

statistics mentioned, would make a compelling argument.

The second source can account for this failure: “Criminalization, legalization or

decriminalization of sex work: what female sex workers say in San Francisco, USA” by

Alexandra Lutnick, a public health policy expert and social scientist with her primary focus

on people engaged in prostitution and Deborah Cohan, a lecturer in the university of

California as well as a highly certified obstetrician.  

Much like the first source, this one also uses a mix of both quantitative and qualitative

research from the Sex Worker Environmental Assessment Team Study( Lutnick and Cohan

38) and focuses heavily on the personal accounts of prostitutes.During the quantitative

analysis, Lutnick and Cohan concluded that 90% of the sex workers preferred laws protecting

their rights, and 83% agreed that regular health screens should be deemed essential(44). In

their own words, they explain the purpose: “investigating the perspectives and experiences of

a range of female sex workers regarding the legal status of sex work”. Regarding legalization,

one of the sex workers appreciated the safety legalization brought forth: “Health services,

mental [health] ser- vices, police protection, ... The same rights as anybody else”(interview

with a sex worker).

Having used a study to gather their research, this source collected primary first-hand data and

ruled out any extraneous variables that might have affected the participants’ answers. Unlike

the first source, this one creates an active effort to voice the opinions of those at the core of

the impact of legalization.

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Until now, only a small minority has made prostitution legal such as Greece, Iceland,

Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands , Nevada and some Australian states. Much

of Asia and Russia are still far away from this reform.

Keeping these benefits in mind, why hasn’t the rest of the world legalized

prostitution?To respond to this question, we will be examining our main source for the

opposing view: Mary Sullivan’s “What Happens When Prostitution Becomes Work? An

update on the legalization of prostitution in Australia” . Mary Lucille Sullivan is a feminist

activist with a Ph.D. in political science and has written several books on social justice issues,

one of which we will use as our source. Her Ph.D. produced “ Making Sex Work” which led

to an international tour discussing the negative impact of legalizing prostitution.

In her own words, Sullivan describes legalization as having “exacerbated these

harms”(sex trafficking, child prostitution, and violence)(3). Sullivan discusses that the

government justifies legalizing prostitution by saying that it would reduce the visible impact

on the community at large by safeguarding public health. She contends, however, that

legalising does little to safeguard the health of individuals working in the business, i.e., those

most at risk, despite the health checks in place. Enduring mental and physical harm

accompanies this dangerous occupation. Sullivan then goes on to explain that prostitution has

come to be a substantial part of economic activity. This has led to a stark increase in the

demand for this business activity. Sullivan mentions a response of a woman from one of the

surveys on the consequences of legalization who said, “the clients are extremely demanding

[and] the control over what the women will and won’t do is often taken out of their hands”

(Keogh 7). This highlights how the women in this industry are now far more vulnerable to

violence post-legalization than ever before.

Legalization has led to increasing demand which in turn has resulted in a shortage in

the supply of prostitutes. Due to the profitable nature of the trade, brothel owners and
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managers have managed to find other avenues to keep their profits intact: sex trafficking,

another industry that thrives off of the legalization reform. This includes women and children

between the ages of ten to seventeen years. The remaining gap in supply is filled in by

college students. An alarming number of students( around 10%) have joined the prostitution

industry as a result of severe student poverty to avoid homelessness(Sullivan and Macklin 1) .

It is important to note that Sullivan has identified and elaborated on different stakeholders

within the prostitution industry, particularly the population working as sex workers. Her use

of statistics combined with their situational problems gives the reader an illustration of the

difficulties women and children have to face in order to have to either choose or be forced

into prostitution. Furthermore, it highlights that the laws in place benefit the customers and

brothel owners more than the prostitutes themselves.

Sullivan argues that the government encourages the legalization of prostitution

because it results in an obnoxiously profitable trade “through taxation” and “brothel licensing

fees” (9). It is possible for this reason that despite the laws, the industry remains highly

unregulated, and no severe fines or punishments are imposed on sex trafficking or unlicensed

brothels. Sullivan outright condemns this reform of legalization as she deems it as a

“government-sanctioned abuse of women and violates their right to equality and safety.”(23)

As can be seen, by her writing, Sullivan is far more emotional and enraged about the heinous

activities brought forth by legalization, unlike the previous sources, which simply analyzed

previous reforms.

Although her research essay focuses primarily on Australia, Sullivan has made use of

articles and facts from other parts of the world. She uses this evidence to support her claim

that legalization in Australia has only worsened the living conditions of both women and

children. She further argues that despite the objectives of the legislation, exploitative

employment practices are still in action, now possibly under worse circumstances. This
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includes a minimal insistence on the use of condoms and being forced to carry out sexual acts

out of fear of their brother owners and customers. An interview demonstrates this fear: “I will

do something that I don’t want to. If you want to get booked, you have to do these

things”(Sullivan 21) .This has led to women wanting to escape the industry as the trade has

become increasingly dangerous for the sex workers in question. 

After an in-depth analysis of all the sources, I am able to draw a conclusion:

prostitution should be legalized. Such reforms assure fundamental human rights that any

other worker in another profession would be guaranteed as part of their contract. An example

of this would be “health insurance companies are reluctant to take on sex workers as

customers” (Mossman and Czajka 24). Another compelling argument made by the

proposition is that the prostitution trade makes up a significant portion of the GDP in

practicing countries. According to the international labor organization, this trade makes up 2-

14% of the GDP of south Asian countries (Jeffreys 386). The opposition also makes a

compelling argument for the safety of sex workers. This issue can be handled via a simple

solution: the current laws may be outdated; a revision of these laws would make a more

inclusive and accepting environment for the workers in question. Legalization reforms are the

first step towards paving the way towards normalizing the prostitution trade as a respectable

profession in our society.

Prior to researching, my knowledge of the given topic was minimal. Previously, I was

only aware of the fact that it is a dangerous profession to pursue. I was unaware of the extent

of the vulnerability that is accompanied by this occupation and the particular governmental

actions that could protect prostitutes from this harm. For me, it was the personal accounts of

the sex workers that I considered to be the most compelling because these stakeholders are

likely to suffer the most significant impact of institutional reforms. One such account from a

prostitute “Health services, mental [health] ser- vices, police protection, ... The same rights as
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anybody else”(Lutnick and Cohan) .I believe the antithesis of my paper could be more

comprehensive if I had made use of more sources and points of view, such as that of society

at large. What my essay may be lacking is the use of updated legislations that would have

been more appropriate according to the circumstances in place today. Despite that extra

evaluation, my conclusion would have remained the same: prostitution should be legalized .

 
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Works Cited

Czajka, M. (2004). A new era for sex workers in Germany? In H. Ward & S. Day

(Eds.), Sex work, Mobility and Health in Europe (pp. 53–74). London: Kegal

Paul Limited.

jeffreys, sheila. “Not for Sale; Feminsts Resisting Prostitution and Pornography.”

Google Books, Google, https://books.google.com.pk/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=vmqE7lDAI-AC&oi=fnd&p+g=PA3+86&dq=definition%2Bof

%2Blegalisation%2Bof%2Bprostitution&ots=zykIB_Lvyq&sig=Kh5Zof-

H2gctiGp19viTgHu0Rfg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=definition%20of

%20legalisation%20of%20prostitution&f=false

 Journal of Mixed Methods Research. 2018. Description

 https://au.sagepub.com/en-gb/oce/journal-of-mixed-methods-research/

journal201775#description

Keogh, M. (1992). The Effects of the Prostitution Regulation Act on Victorian Sex

Workers. Melbourne, Prostitutes Collective of Victoria.

Macklin, J. (2002). Students Poverty: Time for the Facts. Media Statement, Australian

Labor Party

http://www.alp.org.au/media/0702/20001657.html
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(Last Accessed 20 October 2004)

mossman, elaine. “Credentials .” Elaine Mossman, 16 Oct. 2019,

https://elainemossman.nz/?page_id=7

mossman, elaine. International Approaches to Decriminalising or Legalising

Prostitution.

https://www.procon.org/wp-content/uploads/new_zealand_gov.pdf

Pinto, S., Scandia, A. & Wilson, P. (1990). Prostitution laws in Australia. Trends and

issues in crime and criminal justice No. 22.